A Response to Jason Salavon

I find Jason Salavon’s work to be extremely interesting because of the abstract quality to each piece and the concept behind it, such as with his series entitled 100 Special Moments. Each of the images that compose this series, I believe, serve as a clear reflection of the society we live in today – a society that does everything within its power to gain and maintain complete control over media and its distribution/presentation. What is also interesting about this series is that it reflects a sense of continuity and similarities in the life experiences most people choose to document and give significance to, in this case weddings, graduation, Christmas photos with Santa Claus, and little league baseball photos. In the case of Salavon’s series Every Playboy Centerfold, when observing these photos for the first time, they may be very abstract and unrecognizable to some; it is only when reading the title do we begin to impose meaning on the photographs. What is interesting to me about this is the fact that modern society and media give so much recognition and places an immense emphasis on sexuality and nudity, yet when we are presented with a composite image of hundreds of the iconic Playboy centerfolds together, suddenly, we cannot recognize or understand what we are seeing. I find these images composite images to represent reality far more than the individual photographs used to create the final image because it illustrates an evolution in photography over the course of thirty years. I question that came to my mind when analyzing these photographs, was why do we choose to place importance on certain categories of photography? What is it about these particular subjects portrayed in photography that we love to exploit and photograph over and over, despite the fact that we are essentially documenting the same situation over and over, just with different sets of people? It is because of this that I find Salavon’s composite images to be so captivating, realistic, and powerful.

John Pfahl Presentation

2016 Undergraduate Exhibition

The 2016 Undergraduate Exhibition has a wonderful range of work this year, especially when considering how selective the juror, Seth Fritz, was, limiting the 250 entries down to just over 50 to be displayed in the gallery. While I did find the selection to be well rounded, some media were so interesting and well done that I wanted to see even more examples, such as the lamps and oil paintings. Some of my favorite pieces included mixed media drawings from Life Drawing 1, a coat from Woven Textiles, and monoprints from Etching and Intaglio Printmaking.

The two drawings by Sara Kramer, both recipients of the Amie Award, were stunning and bizarre at the same time. Each piece was a portrait drawn on a large scale that depicted both the artist and another female figure, each one disfigured in a way that made them insect-like and rather grotesque, yet they were so well detailed and executed through medium and composition that it made each one aesthetically appealing. While the drawing depicting Sara herself made use of images of actual insect appendages, I felt that the accompanying work was even more insect-like, even without those particular appendages. The large and exaggerated head with bulging eyes, the proportionally smaller abdomen, and spindly arms, combined with the stained paper and controlled scribbled lines, made the figure appear almost alien and disturbing.

In terms of the coat by Miranda Herring, I enjoyed the vibrancy of color and the texture of the fabric she wove together on her loom. The way the coat was displayed was fresh and innovative by having it hang on a pole extended through the arms, suspended by transparent thread, thereby allowing it to rotate in midair and allow the observer to fully analyze and appreciate its form. As I have yet to take a textiles studio myself, this piece made me very excited about the possibilities of what can be achieved in that class and through that medium, in addition to making me more appreciative of the clothes I wear and the time and energy that goes into designing an envisioned work.

The etching by Sarah Gordon was well executed, enchanting, and delightful to look at with the delicately colored figure of Bibi Laloulette. The precision of the process of etching contrasted well with the flowing and airy watercolors applied over top, giving a sense of liveliness to the little boy, which made him seem more tangible and lifelike. I personally enjoyed this appropriation of Whistler’s original work – it felt much more soft and sweet, and even innocent; this etching worked well on a large scale, due to the looseness of line work in combination with color.